Samuel M. Chen is a radiologist.
Someone once described war as: “Long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror.”
Similar to flying: “Hours and hours of sheer boredom punctuated by moments of stark panic.”
My life is like that: Fairly mundane, routine and predictable — until it isn’t.
Near where I work is a sandwich shop. I have walked to it, but usually, under some time constraint, I drive. I have taken to getting a large sandwich, …
It began simply enough.
There were 12 of us at the spacious table, gathered for a tasty, albeit unconventional Christmas meal of soup and salad. My adult son was seated to my immediate left. Meal completed, compliments and gratitude expressed to the preparer, my son turned to the fellow on my right.
“You want some coffee? I’m going to Starbucks.”
“Do you have to go out? Can’t you make it here?”
My daughter had …
So I am on the road again — sort of. What I do is work away from home, which isn’t quite the same thing. Where I work as a radiologist is not within commuting distance, so I stay at a nearby hotel. In general, that has worked out fairly well.
Not long ago, however, when I went to start the car after breakfast, I became immediately aware of a roaring sound.
The …
Funny (not necessarily “haha,” but sometimes that, too) how things sometimes start.
Somehow something got in my shoe.
It’s sort of like the sock that disappears in the dryer.
We don’t know how it happens, but it seems to.
In case you didn’t know, there’s actually a missing sock day — May 9.
I’m not sure how that was decided upon, but it’s been designated Lost Sock Awareness Day.
If you’re a believer in the Great …
I’m a member of the ACR (American College of Radiology). One of their recent online postings is entitled: Choosing Wisely.
Number three (of ten things physicians and patients should question) is: “Avoid admission or preoperative chest X-rays for ambulatory patients with unremarkable history and physical exam.”
In only 2 percent of cases, will it make a difference in management.
Thirteen years ago, I was working on the queue of cases …
“Life is just a short walk from the cradle to the grave, and it sure behooves us to be kind to one another along the way.”
– Alice Childress, American playwright, actor, author (1912-1994)
I am awakened in the wee hours by the sound of rain. Ordinarily I would return to bed in hope of stealing more sleep from night, but this particular day I know I have to rise at 4:30 …
It was several decades ago when my father, not long retired from a lifetime of denominational service as a chemistry professor, noticed pain in his abdomen. Initially attributing this to ingestion of some excessively hot tea, he ignored it for a time, hoping that, like many ailments, it would dissipate on its own. When it did not, he sought medical attention.
He ended up at the hospital where I worked, and …
“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.”
– Blanche DuBois, A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams
It was near the end of 2008 that I developed symptoms that I recognized as sciatica. The Internet is a wonderful source of information (and some misinformation). I decided to educate myself. In my reading, I encountered one study that indicated that patients who underwent surgery were better at one year, but about the …
I sit at my desk in a cubicle with high ceilings and an open entryway. It is dark except for the somewhat eerie glow of light emitted by CRT monitors. With concentration and some sense of urgency, I methodically plow through the queue of studies to be interpreted. Some are marked STAT, some not. I address the former first.
Our ER is a busy one. Many cases come from that department. …
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